I received a
knock on my apartment door this morning and when I opened the door I was
somewhat surprised to see Mr. Tan. He is the Building Manager of my apartment
complex. Mr. Tan was accompanied by one of the dopey Security Guards of my
condominium whose name I think is Kevin. Kevin was awake and standing which is
very unusual. He is normally asleep at his post.
I invited both
of them in and asked them to take a seat. I asked Kevin if he would like to
have a lay down on my couch. He looked vaguely interested and then a little
alarmed when he realized that I was taking the piss. Mr. Tan sat on the edge of
one of my couches and gave Kevin the Security guard a withering stare. Poor
Kevin remained standing. He looked most anxious and uncomfortable. I offered
them both a cold drink or a coffee which Mr. Tan politely declined. Kevin
looked as if he wanted something but Mr. Tan stared him down so Kevin said
nothing.
I asked Mr.
Tan what I could do for him.
"We
have a problem Mr. Peter", Mr. Tan informed me in a most grave fashion.
"A
problem Mr. Tan?"
"A
problem Mr. Peter."
"Pray
tell me this problem Mr. Tan?" I enquired.
I was curious
but not anxious. I have been living here for many years now and I understand
that the Singaporeans perceive a lot of things to be problems that are of
little significance or consequence to me.
"It is
your flags Mr. Peter. We have received a complaint. You cannot"
"I
cannot?"
"You
cannot" he repeated.
The flags Mr.
Tan was referring to are my Tibetan prayer flags. I have hanged them from my
little balcony. Or have I hung them? I am not sure what the correct terminology
is in this instance. I got my Tibetan prayer flags on a trip to Nepal and they
have been hanging there for quite some time.
Here is a
couple of pictures of my Tibetan Prayer flags flapping in the breeze on my
little balcony. My verandah is a very small space that only has room for my
surfboard and my battered but comfortable green leather armchair. I have had
this green armchair for more than a decade. It is much travelled and is an old
friend.
The word
verandah is a derivation of the Hindi word ‘varanda’, which in turn is believed
to have come from a Portuguese word that means a “long balcony or terrace”. It
was first recorded in the year 1711 and originally related to open areas on a
ship. Verandah’s are also known as balconies. Balconies are Italian in origin
and are an anglicised form of the word ‘balcone’ – which means a scaffold or
terrace. ‘Balcones’ were seen most commonly in theatres where Italian operas
were conducted. Nowadays verandahs and balconies are much the same thing.
I actually
spend quite a bit of time on my balcony. It is shaded there in the afternoon
and as I am up on the sixth floor of my building it often gets a pleasant
breeze. I spend many hours reading books in my battered old armchair and I
occasionally watch games of tennis that are played on the courts below me.
I have a very
clear view of the tennis courts from my vantage point on my little balcony and
sometimes I yell out my verdict to players as to whether a ball is in or out.
For disputed calls. There is one Singaporean guy who plays regularly on a
Saturday afternoon and he foot faults on every serve. Foot faulting is stepping
over the line during the action of a service. It is against the rules of
tennis. He also often cheats by calling his opponents balls as being out when
they are actually clearly in. He hates me yelling out "foot fault"
or "that ball was in" when he plays and he yells and screams
obscenities at me in both Hokkien and English. He sometimes even tries to hit
tennis balls up at me. I find it very entertaining that he gets so infuriated.
His bemusement is my amusement.
Here is the
view of the tennis courts from my balcony. The Tibetan prayer flags are
flapping in the foreground. They are fluttering too.
Prayer flags
are long strings of colorful cloth that are used to bless the countryside and
provide healing to both the land and the people. They are often seen strung
along mountain ridges and peaks very high in the Himalaya mountains. I have
seen them there on the Nepal side of the Himalaya mountain ranges and they are
spectacular and beautiful and glorious.
Here is a
picture of them in the Himalaya:
These prayer
flags are ancient and it is believed that they were introduced by the Bon. The
Bon is a uniquely Tibetan religion that pre-dates Buddhism. It is believed that
the teachings of the Lord Buddha originated from Bon scriptures. The Bon is
more than seventeen thousand years old and it is almost forgotten now.
Not by me
though.
Prayers or
mantra are printed on each flag. These are hand printed with wooden blocks. I know
this because I have seen this done. In Kathmandu. The flags themselves are
called Lung Ta which translates to "wind horse" in the
Tibetan language. I love the term 'Wind horse' and I love the Himalaya mountain
ranges of Tibet and Nepal and the beautiful people who live there too. I visit
as often as I can.
It brings me
peace and makes my heart sing.
Prayer flags
are hung - or perhaps hanged - to promote compassion, strength, wisdom and
peace and these are all very good things. By hanging these flags it is believed
that the Lung Ta will carry blessings to all beings on the planet. As
the wind makes the flags flutter the air is purified and sanctified by the
mantras that are printed on the flags. They are able to transform bad fortune
to good fortune.
Nice huh?
You will see
that there are five colours in the string of flags - unless you are color blind
of course. They are very specific in their order and from left to right they
are blue, white, red, green and yellow. These colors represent the five
elements that are important to Tibetan Buddhists. They are referred to as the
"Five Pure Lights". Blue is symbolic of the sky, white symbolizes the
air and wind, red is fire, green is water and yellow is the mother earth. In
Tibetan and Nepalese culture health and harmony are produced through the
balance of these five elements.
I find this
incredibly beautiful.
Seeing the
flapping and fluttering of my prayer flags brings me peace and tranquility and
hope.
I explained
all of this to Mr. Tan and told him that my prayer flags were a gift from my
Nepalese friend Bhim and they mean a lot to me. I told Mr. Tan that they are
precious to me and that I would not take them down.
He repeated, "We
have received a complaint Mr. Peter you cannot"
"I
cannot what Mr. Tan?" I replied
"Fly
the flags"
"Why
not?"
"It is
against the law"
"Against
the law?" I asked.
"Was
it that fat Danish bastard Jens who has complained?".
Jens is a
psychopathic neighbor of mine who I have enraged. It is a long story that I
will not repeat as I have previously described it in a piece that I have
written that is titled, "The Floater".
"I
cannot say Mr. Peter but you must remove them. Can?", Mr. Tan insisted.
"Cannot" I retorted.
"They
are of religious significance to me"
"Then
you must get permission from the Authorities" he replied
"I
will write to Mr. Lee immediately then", I responded - with no small degree of
indignation. Mr. Lee is the current Prime Minister of Singapore.
Mr. Tan looked
most distressed at this declaration and he was wringing his hands with some
despair as he rose to his feet.
"You
will not remove the flags? he enquired as I ushered him and dopey Kevin out of the door
"I
most certainly will not", I responded.
Kevin the
Security guard had a smug smirk on his face as he walked out the door so I said
to him, "And you can now go back to sleep Mr. Kevin".
The smirk
quickly disappeared and Mr. Tan cast him a dark look.
Singapore have
very strict rules about the display of their own National flag. They have very
strict rules about everything and anything actually and it drives me crazy
sometimes. Singaporeans are encouraged to display their own country's flag on
National Day. This is celebrated on the 8th August and it is a public holiday.
However the flag can only be displayed out the front of homes from the 20th
July until the 30th August. Displaying it at any other time is illegal.
I have no idea
why.
My boy Tom has
the Singaporean flag tattooed on his right shoulder and he has many other tattoos
all over his body. He is coming to visit me in a couple of weeks from
Australia. I will have to tell him that displaying this flag in Singapore is
illegal and he will have to keep it covered up while he is here. He will likely
think that this is very funny and he will ignore my advice. He has ignored my
advice all of his young life and he does his own thing. I did much the same when
I was his age so I don't really mind. I rather like it actually.
Rebellion runs
deep in my family.
I will finish
this post now as I have a long letter that I need to write to Prime Minister
Lee.
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